


Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it

by thisisamadhouse



Series: What the future holds [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Outlaw Queen, F/M, Fix-It, The Enchanted Forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 07:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15944948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisamadhouse/pseuds/thisisamadhouse
Summary: Roland makes a wish on his birthday, after his return to the Enchanted Forest, and gets a surprising result





	Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Going back to transfer my works here. I originally posted this piece on Tumblr as a present for my darlings [ Lolymoon ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolymoon/pseuds/Lolymoon) and [ LillieGrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillieGrey/pseuds/LillieGrey) . It serves as a prologue for the couple prompts I wrote for Dark!OQ Week. I hope you like it.
> 
> Here have some bittersweet fluffy Dimple Dark!Outlaw Queen.

 

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived in an Enchanted Forest, full of magic and extraordinary creatures. This boy lived in a camp full of honorable thieves. It may seem like an oxymoron to you, but somehow those outlaws turned their former amoral existences around for the greater good, stealing to give back, taking from those who had everything they wanted, to help those who had too little.

They became the boy's family, for this child had lost much, too much; his mother, whom he could barely remember, not long after birth, his father just a few months prior, his sister and his Queen, left behind in another realm. The joyful, energetic, curious boy had changed ever since their return to Sherwood Forest, the light in his eyes had dimmed, he was quieter, his smiles rarer, his nightmares scarier. The Merry Men, his band of thieves, tried their hardest to distract and occupy him, to comfort him, but nothing and no one could replace the soothing voice and strong arms of his Papa, especially on that particular day.

That day was a special one for the boy, usually his favourite of the year, his birthday. For as long as he could remember, his father had gone out of his way to make it an unforgettable event. He had received his first small bow and arrow on his third birthday, squealing as he had been able to finally notch an arrow on his own, uncaring that he never hit the target, he had ridden on a pony for his fourth, a little black one that the Queen had personally chosen for him from her stables at the Dark Palace, where they had all been living then. She had helped him groom it and feed it apples from her tree, she had led them for a walk around the castle, even had sped it up to a trot to the boy's utter delight. Afterwards they had baked his cake from scratch, and that night, with a full belly, clutching his new toy pony, an exact, fluffy replica of the living model, the boy had fallen asleep with a smile so wide his cheeks had hurt, it had rivaled his father's.

His fifth birthday would be different. The boy didn't want to rise up for it, he wanted to stay snuggled under his blankets so no one would see his tears as he missed his Papa, and his Queen, and everyone else they had left behind. He just wanted his special day to be over. The Merry Men were persistent however, and after careful coaxing, they convinced the boy to join them. They didn't try to turn it into a lavish party, none of them wanted to insult the boy's father memory by attempting to live up to his unique way of celebrating his son.

It was a quiet affair with simple handmade gifts and his favourite cake, a treat done with ingredients Granny had given them as they had left. Five candles lit the chocolate confection, and as he was about to blow on them, his father's best friend, a hairy, burly, giant of a man, ironically nicknamed Little John, reminded him that he needed to make a wish. The boy's little face screwed into thoughts, for there was only one thing he wanted and he knew he couldn't get it. Still he shrugged, closed his eyes, made his wish and blew on his candles.

"What did you wish for, Roland?" A soft, feminine voice spoke in his ear.

"You can't tell wishes or they won't come true, silly," the boy replied, and then froze, he knew this voice. Roland turned to the side and opened his eyes. They fell on the beautiful face of his Queen.

"Regina!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around her neck, clinging to her tightly. "You're here! You came back!" He sighed happily as he felt her gentle hands stroking his back.

"I did Roland. I couldn't miss my favourite Knight's birthday, now could I?" She told him and he giggled. He leaned back to look at her, his eyes twinkling for the first time in months, his smile wide and genuine. "And as it is your special day, I think it is tradition that I give you a present," with a flourish, she made his gift appear in a plume of smoke.

"Monkey!" Roland cried out, squeezing against him the plush toy that had been lost in the confusion of their hasty departure, his companion ever since his Queen had saved him from the much more terrifying, breathing version. "Thank you Regina!" He seemed to realize for the first time that she looked a bit different than last he saw her. With her long, raven hair in a styled ponytail and her outfit, she resembled the Regina he had met all those months ago when she had been separated from her son.

She had been so sad then, that he had felt a chest swelling pride for every smile he had managed to get out of her. This Regina, though similar in looks to his sorrowful Queen, was both different from her, and from the Regina he had to leave behind without saying goodbye. Roland couldn't say how he knew but he felt it, in the way she looked at him.

He put his little hands on her cheeks and said, "You're  _the_  Queen, aren't you?" He sounded so much older than his five years when he spoke those words that the Queen was left stunned and speechless, could only nod in reply.

"But you're not bad," he stated more than asked, and the Men around them, who had stayed silent since the woman appeared, shifted uncomfortably.

The Queen's eyes softened. "Not anymore," she confirmed, a hint of shame in her tone, she did not want this precious boy to hear about the havoc she had wrecked in Storybrooke not so long ago.

"Regina sent you?" he asked, hopeful eyes and toothy grin, and the Queen's newly mended heart squeezed painfully in her chest. Regina had no idea she was here, and she probably wouldn't approve of what she was about to do, but what could the Queen possibly tell him?

"In a way, yes, she did," she answered. "I have another surprise for you but I need to explain something first, and you have to listen really closely, alright?"

The boy nodded with all the seriousness he was capable of, it made the Queen chuckle, she caressed his cheek gently.

"You see I went to another Realm and I found someone there, someone very special, who looks like your Papa," she paused, biting her lip, hesitating when the boy instantly perked up. "Roland, he looks very much like him, but he is not your Papa, he has led a very different life, he doesn't know us," the boy deflated, lowering his head, a pout on his lips. "He is a thief but he doesn't do it for good like your father did. He wants to change though, do you think you could help me show him how?"

Seconds ticked by, and the Queen became more and more convinced that she had made a terrible mistake, that she had broken the child's heart. What had she been thinking, coming back here to ruin his birthday? And then Roland threw himself in her arms again, and she took a shaky breath as he whispered a heartfelt 'Thank you Regina' in her ear.

She introduced him to Robin of Locksley, and his appearance and manners were distinctive enough not to upset the boy too much. This man could easily pass for a long lost brother or cousin to the Robin they knew. They were uneasy with each other at first, but with time and those room lighting smiles of Roland's they started to form a real bond. The Queen's anxiety slowly eased, as each day passed, and two of her favourite men got along better and better. This fresh start Regina had given her looked more promising with each dawn and sunset that she enjoyed in the arms of her thief, Roland's soft snores filtering from the tent next to them.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived in an Enchanted Forest full of magic and extraordinary creatures. He had lost much, too much, but on his fifth birthday he wished for a family, for a mother and a father to complete his rugged band of thieves, and it was granted. Would it be a happily ever after? Well, that's an entirely new adventure to tell.


End file.
